JLL – Market Watch Week Dec 04, 2017

06 Dec 2017

1. Time for Thu Thiem

Thu Thiem, the proposed financial district and mixed-use urban area in Ho Chi Minh City, is set to become the largest inner-city development in Southeast Asia. Mr. Stephen Wyatt, Country Head at JLL Vietnam, said the master plan for Thu Thiem is set to alleviate the lack of supply faced in the existing CBD. “As infrastructure improves within Thu Thiem, we anticipate that larger firms will start considering it as a viable alternative to the existing CBD and set up their head offices there,” he added. Its developable area consists of 176 land parcels. This includes approximately 3.4 million sq m of commercial space and 3.2 million sq m of residential space for a population of 145,000.

Total foreign direct investment (FDI) in Vietnam reached $33.09 billion in the first eleven months of this year, up a staggering 82.8 per cent year-on-year, according to the latest report from the Foreign Investment Agency (FIA) at the Ministry of Planning and Investment. There were 2,293 new projects granted investment certificates during the period, with total registered capital of $19.8 billion, an increase of 52 per cent year-on-year.

According to JLL, the recent lifting of a ban that prohibited locals from playing at casinos would have quite a favourable effect on the industry. It is believed that more international investors will be attracted to Vietnam and will invest in its casino and tourism industries. From underdog to favourite JLL pointed out in its report that the southern part of the nation will benefit greatly from the lifted ban, as the second phase of The Grand Ho Tram Strip integrated resort project is currently under development.

E-commerce now accounts for 4.6 per cent of all fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) sales globally. While e-commerce is growing, however, the FMCG market as a whole is sluggish, increasing just 1.3 per cent during the same period. E-commerce now contributes to a record 36 per cent of global FMCG growth and will continue to outpace growth in offline FMCG retail.“Our projections show that in 2025, online FMCG will be a $170 billion business and hold a 10 per cent market share,” said Mr. Stéphane Roger, Global Shopper and Retail Director at Kantar Worldpanel.

The conglomerate’s 2016 annual finance report showed that VSIP signed MOUs with the Binh Duong and Bac Ninh provincial People’s Committees on the expansion of IZs in the localities. It is expected that the total land area to be added into the land fund will be 1,500 hectares.​